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Split charge relay ratings


jimmy_neutron

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My battery won't see out another winter so i'm thinking that i better get sorted soon and whilst i'm at it i'm looking at fitting 2 batterys and a split charge.

Obviously my first place to look was x-eng. Like the batterys in the split charge kit, but thought the relay looked a bit small for 180A rating so did some research and found this .. http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/more_relay.html

I'm not wanting a slagging match, just don't want a fire in the battery box when pulling from both batterys (engine running).

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Mike has given a very good link for reading. After that I purchased a set-up from Raw Components. I can highly recommend them as the kit is very good, comes with EVERYTHING needed. I went for the voltage sensing relay (rated at 100A) in the end as I run a TD5 and didn't fancy tapping in to any of the wiring.

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From memory, the X-Eng ones are quite similar to the R200R ones on here. They are rated at 200amps, meaning that you would have to pull around 400 amps to go over the rating. I'm absolutely sure that they will take short term loads much higher than that - it is usually a heat dissipation issue, so unless you are using an electric winch for logging work, I really don't see a problem. If I were you, I would contact the X-eng people and ask them what their kit is rated to.

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From memory, the X-Eng ones are quite similar to the R200R ones on here. They are rated at 200amps, meaning that you would have to pull around 400 amps to go over the rating. I'm absolutely sure that they will take short term loads much higher than that - it is usually a heat dissipation issue, so unless you are using an electric winch for logging work, I really don't see a problem. If I were you, I would contact the X-eng people and ask them what their kit is rated to.

x2. Forum discount from Simon at X-Eng too!!

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I agree that there is a lot of mis and dis-information kicking around on ratings of relays. The relays are sold to us as having a 180A rating - but as said in the advert - is this a continuous rating? A 10 minute or even 10 second rating?

I tested one of the relays by using it to short out a yellow top optima which was delivering about 900A. It took 20 sec for the relay casing to melt. Remarkably, once it had cooled down - it still worked (but was a fairly unusual shape).

Using the same battery (recharged) and an improvised resistor to limit the current to 200A I repeated the experiment with a new relay. It got quite warm - but after 10 mins was still intact and working. At that point the battery was going flat and the current dropped below 200A so the test was terminated.

These relays are made in Italy. I tried the same test on a much cheaper version from China - and it was rubbish. At 900A it turned to liquid within 10 seconds and stopped working. At 200A it just stopped working after 2 minutes.

A few people have complained that the relays are not continuously rated at 180A, however, I am satisfied that they are up to the job - and back that up with a 5 year unconditional warranty.

Si

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I have a VSR fitted Voltage Sensitive Relay

http://www.power-store.com/view-item.asp?i...amp;id=196&

These will work in emergency parallel mode at 1250amps for 10 minutes!

Also allows for charging via solar panel.

More expensive but belt and braces.

They also do an excellent cut off switch giving Battery 1, Battery 2, Both and Off settings, that can be padlocked Off for security.

Voltage: 12, 24, 32 & 48V DC

Continuous Rating: 400A

Intermittant Rating: 525A

Cranking Rating: 1500A

Terminal size: 3/8" (10mm)

http://www.power-store.com/view-item.asp?i...amp;id=191&

Designed for marine market but very suitable for Land Rovers.

Matthew on here is an expert in these products and can source them for you.

John

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